Berkshire businesses boosted by £200,000 grant fund

BUSINESSES across Berkshire have received a £200,000 boost, thanks to the Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

The LEP created the Berkshire Business Capital Grant Fund to target businesses in Berkshire which it sees as high growth or potential high growth enterprises.

Six successful businesses received grants of between £25,000 and

£50,000 through the fund, totalling £211,196.

Grants received needed to be matched by recipients resulting in more than £400,000 investment across the royal county.

The aim of the grants is to provide funds to scale-up businesses and to support investment projects which enable them to expand or address barriers to their growth.

The focus on business expansion is to facilitate increased productivity, employment generation and greener, cleaner growth.

Alison Webster, CEO of Berkshire LEP, said: “We are ambitious for Berkshire and the initiatives we deliver are designed to ensure businesses here have the funding, skills, support and infrastructure to grow.

“In order to provide the greatest impact and return on investment for the Berkshire economy, the grants were targeted at high growth potential SMEs rather than at those requiring grants for businesses survival.

“We are delighted the Berkshire Business Capital Grant Fund will support the Berkshire scale-up community by helping businesses implement their growth plans.”

One of the recipients of the grant funding is Occuity, a Readingbased company researching and developing innovative optical medical devices.

On receiving the £33,910 grant

CEO and Co-founder, Dr Dan Daly, said: “I am delighted that Occuity has received this support.

“The grant will allow us to develop seven dedicated test stations which will help us to significantly enhance our production process.

“This funding will not only help us bring our first product to market but to continue creating new job opportunities in the Berkshire area and secure the longer-term future for our employees.”

The other companies to receive grants were Business Think Engineer (£25,990), Bruhati (£48,393), Cordell Heath (£35,000), Tepeo (£42,493) and Kiss House (£25,410).

The Berkshire Business Capital Grant Fund is part of a wider package of finance measures provided by the LEP to support businesses.

This includes the Thames Valley Berkshire Funding Escalator, providing next stage finance with loans and equity, the Berkshire Low Carbon Workspaces grant for businesses looking to decarbonise their workspaces.

There are also partfunded grants available through the Department for International Trade’s Internationalisation Fund, aimed at helping SMEs grow in new international markets.